Make Me Yours(27)

I release her at once, and when she glances up, her eyes are brimming with emotion.

She blinks fast, turning away again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sexually harass you.” Her tone changes to shaky humor. “I might be a little drunk.”

“I think sexual harassment is premised on who has the most power, and you only had one glass of wine.”

“Now you’re a lawyer?” She holds the chair and steps around the easels, going quickly toward the house.

I’m not ready to let her leave. “Hang on… where are you going?”

“It’s time to walk away. Or maybe run.” She lets out a nervous laugh.

“I don’t want you to walk away.”

“You’re right, I’d better run.”

“Ruby, wait.” I catch her hand, stopping her progress. “Why are you running from me?”

My hand goes to her waist, and I pull her against my chest. Right where she belongs.

She reaches up and touches the center of my top lip with her thumb, slipping it down to the bottom. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since that first night…” Then she shakes her head. “But you’re too tempting, Remington Key. You’ll ruin everything.”

“What would I ruin?” I catch that hand touching my face, holding it to my mouth and kissing those slim fingers.

She chews her lip as she watches me. “My plans… my goals.” She eases her hands out of mine, and my stomach sinks. “Thank you for the wine. Morning comes early.”

I watch as she disappears into the house. Her kiss is still warm on my lips, and I can still feel her body next to mine, the scent of her hair all around me.

She says I’m too tempting. She has no idea how tempting she is to me. I’m not sure how we come back from that kiss. I’m not sure I want to…





11





Ruby


“It’s official. I’m my own worst enemy.” I flop on the couch in Drew’s office, scrubbing my fingers on my forehead.

“I feel like we’ve been here before… Just a week ago, actually.” Drew is sitting behind her desk, typing her client notes into her computer. I’ve watched her do it a thousand times.

This morning, I came straight to her office after I dropped Lillie off at preschool.

As soon as Lillie was up, I had her dressed and out the door. We drove to the only McDonald’s in Oakville and had Egg McMuffins. Suck it, Eleanor. Then on the way out, I picked up two more ketchup packets so Lillie wouldn’t tell where we ate.

The last thing I wanted was to bump into Remi after I attacked him last night. God, that kiss… My toes still curl at the memory of his mouth, his tongue… not just that, his arms around me, holding me so close, kissing my fingers. His voice when he sings. I had to go straight to the shower and turn the cold water on full force…

“Now I’m bribing small children with ketchup packets.”

“I can’t even begin to guess what that means.” My best friend flips her yellow legal pad closed and turns her attention to me. “Make it fast. Hunter will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, screw Hunter and his Watergate stories!” I’m on my feet, still scrubbing my forehead. “I’ve got a real problem. One that doesn’t involve Richard Nixon or the Cubans.”

Hunter is one of our shared clients—or I guess, was one of our shared clients. They’re all Drew’s now. He has a paranoid obsession with government surveillance.

Her lips press into a knowing smirk and she nods. “You slept with Remi.”

“Nooo!” I flop onto to my stomach, burying my face in my hands. “But I would have. I sure as hell wanted to. It’s only a matter of time before I do it, and then I’ve blown the whole deal.”

Drew tosses her pen on the desk and leans back in her chair. “What happened?”

“I kissed him.”

“Oh.” I hear the squeak of her chair as she leans forward, and I carefully turn my head to meet her eyes. “That’s serious.”

“It is, right?” Swinging my legs around, I’m on my feet and pacing. “Kissing is almost worse than sex… It’s like in Pretty Woman. Never kiss a client.”

“It’s definitely more intimate. You’re all up close and personal, breathing each other’s air, noses touching, sliding your tongues together… sliding your bodies together.”

“Drew!”

She starts to laugh. “Was it a good kiss?”

“Oh sweet mother…” I drop to sitting on the couch. “It was the greatest kiss of all time. I think I’m in love with him.”

“You’ve known him three days. You are not in love with him.”

“Have you ever seen him with his daughter? It’s the most adorable thing.” I wrap my arms around my waist and fall to the side. “I think he might be the perfect man.”

“No one is perfect.” She’s using her therapist voice. “You’re idealizing him, and you know that means you’re setting yourself up for disillusionment.”

“He sings.”

Therapist-voice gone. “What does that mean?”

“It means he’s a singer. He was an actual lead singer in a country band in college. And his voice…” Another shiver. “It’s like butter.”